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News Release from: CCB fast.MAP | Subject: direct mail rejection research
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 20 February 2008
Consumers throw away unpersonalised mail
People's biggest motivation for opening and reading a direct mail piece - that it's from a brand known to the recipient - has remained in poll position for three years, according to research.
Two-fifths of consumers throw away unpersonalised mail unopened, according to a powerful direct marketing research study However, personalisation has this year proved more persuasive than "interested in the product or service", which consumers said was the second most compelling incentive in the 2005 and 2006 CCB fast.MAP Marketing-GAP tracking studies
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 21 Feb 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Some 40 per cent of adults said they threw away unopened mail packs that were not personally addressed.
Marketers pessimistically expected three-quarters of consumers to take this view.
The ongoing study was launched in 2005 to gauge and track consumer opinion on a host of DM issues and determine whether marketers are in tune with what the public is thinking.
The research was carried out this month by CCB fast.MAP, among two panels - one comprising 4,000 consumers selected to mirror the UK population profile, the other containing more than 200 marketers.
Each year, consumers and marketers are asked to respond to the same questions on key marketing issues.
But whereas consumers are asked to express their own preferences, marketers use their experience to anticipate the consumer responses.
As in previous years, marketers over-estimated by a factor of three the importance of creativity in people's decision to throw away an unopened mail pack.
Fewer than one twentieth of consumers mentioned design or colour.
"Marketers and consumers were in general accord about people being very likely to discard communications from companies or about products which did not interest them, but only 19 per cent of consumers ticked "lack of time" which 61 per cent of marketers felt would be a major reason," said David Cole, MD of CCB fast.MAP.
"Although lack of time has become slightly more of an issue for consumers over the years, rising to 19 per cent now, from 17 per cent in 2006 and 13 per cent in 2005," Cole added.
Awareness of the telephone preference service has increased steeply since last year when 28 per cent said they had heard of it.
This year awareness had shot up to 60 per cent.
However, three-quarters of those who knew of it felt it should be tailored to allow them to opt out of calls from specific market sectors or companies, rather than from all calls.
Only 3 per cent of marketers expected there to be this high level of demand for a more sophisticated opt-out service.
Overall, only one in 100 people likes to be contacted at all via mobile or SMS messaging.
However, there are exceptions; 3 per cent like to receive banking information; 4 per cent competitions; and 2 per cent mobile phone services; local restaurants and takeaways; events, entertainment and DVDs by SMS messaging.
About a tenth of marketers correctly thought that 67 per cent of people would opt out completely if there were a text preference service (up from 65 per cent last year) - many marketers expected a far worse result.
Marketers should be heartened by the fact that the number of people who would not opt out of text messages has almost doubled, from 4 per cent to 7 per cent.
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